BUGS: Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students: Preparing The Garden For Winter (If It Ever Comes)

The BUGS boys got down and dirty pulling out weeds and turning the soil on the garden beds. The next step is to add a layer of compost.

What is BUGS?

The Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students (BUGS) Program of Living Classrooms Foundation works with children from under-served Baltimore City communities throughout the year with an after-school program as well as a summer program. The program's primary goal is to empower and inspire our children to develop academically, creatively, and socially.

The BUGS program serves 60 students from the Butchers Hill/Patterson Park/Fells Point community. Many of our students reside in public housing and low-income neighborhoods. These students have little access to green space and few extra-curricular activities available to them. The program engages youth in learning while providing them with a safe and healthy alternative to the streets.

BUGS is a national model program that uses activities such as cooking, gardening, creative arts and movement, and entrepreneurial projects to help increase academic performance in reading and math and improve student behavior. The program provides a dynamic learning environment at the Living Classrooms East Harbor campus, with access to vegetable and flower gardens planted by the students, and the only wetlands on Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Our 1:10 instructor/student ratio provides youth with the close attention they need to succeed socially and academically.

BUGS Staff

Michelle Koehler, Program Director.

Michelle is the new Program Director for the BUGS Program. Michelle came to Living Classrooms in 1996 and worked on our farm, shipboard, and outreach programs. She was also the After School Program Coordinator, Renaissance Summer Program Director, and Program Manager of the Land-based Department. Michelle graduated from Towson University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History.

Outside of work, Michelle enjoys spending time with her husband and two children. She also has a passion for traveling. She has been all over Europe, Central America, South America, and Mexico and has plans to continue her travels.

Algernon Campbell, Program Manager.
Mr. Algernon is originally from Savannah, GA. He is a graduate of Morehouse College with a B.A in Theatre and Drama as well as a graduate of the Certificate of Dance Program from the Ailey School. He has danced with the Dallas Black Dance Theatre for 4 seasons and for other renowned choreographers. He has danced nationally and internationally in such countries as Japan, Austria, and Zimbabwe. He has lived in many cities and now resides in Baltimore County. He is a professional dancer, teacher, and choreographer at the Morton Street Dance Center and Greater York Center for Dance Education.

___, Dance and Movement.

Krysta Koubek, Cooking and Nutrition.
Krysta is originally from State College, Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Penn State University where she received her B.S. in Elementary Education. After completing her student teaching in Philadelphia, Krysta moved to Baltimore where she took a job as a High School English Teacher. In Summer 2011, Krysta began sharing her love of cooking healthy, natural whole foods with BUGS students as the Cooking and Nutrition Educator.Krysta is very excited to be teaching BUGS students and hopes they can bring what they have learned back to their own kitchens. When she is not cooking, Krysta also enjoys hiking with her dog, traveling, and watching college football, especially if Penn State is playing.

Dy Adamson, STEM.
Dy had recently worked with BUGS students as a Reading Specialist, guiding children through reading and writing activities to help them overcome obstacles to literacy. She worked as a Science teacher with EBLO's after school program- Mi Segunda Casa. She has taught students from under served communities in a public school setting at Capital City Public Charter School in DC. Also, Dy has worked with special education and Deaf students. Participating in the National Science Teachers Association conference in Philadelphia helped make it clear that she has a love for Science. Her B.A. in Elementary Education from Gallaudet University and her A.A.S. in American Sign Language has paved the way for her. She left DC to come to Baltimore last year and joined the BUGS staff in 2010. Outside of BUGS Dy likes to cook, garden, take photographs, and visit museums. You might see her at the Farmers Market on the weekends.

Kat Freeman, Creative Arts.

Kat recently graduated from Smith College in Northampton, MA where she majored in sociology and learned about everything from printmaking to South African film. During the last five years she has lived in Switzerland and Cameroon and loves learning about new places, meeting new people, and broadening her understanding of the world. During this time she also worked at the Pocono Environmental Center leading hikes, at the Fellowhip Farm in New York state growing vegetables, and at an organic family run orchard in MA. Kat has been living in Baltimore for over a year now and enjoys the craziness of the city, biking through Druid Hill Park, snowballs, stoop sitting, and being creative with the BUGS students.

Melissa Weinberg, Gardening and the Environment.

After living in California for several years and graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute, Melissa moved to Brooklyn, NY. There she worked for a professional photographer, an environmental/animal rights non-profit, and as an expert juice maker! She then left the excitement of the big city for the joys of organic vegetable farming in Orange County, NY. After that amazing experience and a month in Nicaragua, part of which was spent on a permaculture farm, Melissa found herself drawn back to her hometown of Baltimore to work as Assistant Farmer at Cromwell Valley CSA. In the fall of 2008 she joined the BUGS staff as Gardening Teacher and couldn't be happier about it. She is a certified master gardener and an active member of the urban agriculture community in Baltimore. Outside of BUGS Melissa teaches art classes at the Creative Alliance. She loves to travel, take psychology courses, cook for friends and family, take photographs, experiment with fermentation, bike around Baltimore, draw and write.

BUGS: Baltimore Urban Gardening with Students

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Preparing The Garden For Winter (If It Ever Comes)

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